Methods, systems and computer program products for remote control of a processing system

Abstract

Methods, systems and computer program products are provided for remote control of a processing system by receiving a generic message from a message source and extracting from the generic message a source and instructions describing the control of the remote processing system. The remote processing system is the controlled in a manner specified by the instructions extracted from the generic message so as to provide processing results. A generic message containing the processing results may then be generated and transmitted to the source of the generic message. Preferably, the generic message is an e-mail message.

That which is claimed is:  
     
       1. A method of remote control of a remote processing system, the method comprising: 
       receiving a generic message from a message source;  
       extracting from the generic message a source and instructions describing the control of the remote processing system;  
       using the extracted instructions to modify a previously defined template specifying how messages from the message source are processed;  
       controlling the remote processing system in a manner specified by the previously defined template as modified by the instructions extracted from the generic message so as to provide processing results.  
     
     
       2. A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising 
       generating a generic message containing the processing results; and  
       transmitting the generic message containing the processing results to the source of the generic message.  
     
     
       3. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the generic message comprises an e-mail message. 
     
     
       4. A method according to  claim 3 , wherein said step of extracting comprises: 
       analyzing the header information of the e-mail to extract the source of the e-mail; and  
       analyzing the body portion of the e-mail to extract keywords and parameters describing the control of the remote processing system.  
     
     
       5. A method according to  claim 2 , wherein the generic message comprises an e-mail message and wherein said step of generating a generic message containing the processing results comprises generating an e-mail containing the processing results and wherein said step of transmitting the generic message comprises transmitting the e-mail containing the processing results. 
     
     
       6. A method of remote control of a remote processing system, the method comprising: 
       receiving an e-mail message from a message source;  
       analyzing the header information of the e-mail to extract the source of the e-mail;  
       analyzing the body portion of the e-mail to extract keywords and parameters describing the control of the remote processing system;  
       generating a mobile agent according to the extracted information; and  
       controlling the remote processing system by executing the mobile agent to obtain the processing results.  
     
     
       7. A method according to  claim 6 , wherein said extracted information comprises agent template specification and agent template change information and wherein said step of generating a mobile agent comprises: 
       selecting an agent generation template based on the agent template specification information extracted from the message;  
       modifying the selected agent generation template based on the agent template change information extracted from the message so as to provide a modified agent generation template; and  
       generating the mobile agent according to the modified agent generation template.  
     
     
       8. A method according to  claim 6 , further comprising: 
       transmitting the mobile agent to an agent server associated with the mobile agent; and  
       receiving results of the execution of the mobile agent from the agent server to provide the processing results.  
     
     
       9. A method according to  claim 8 , further comprising: 
       generating an e-mail message containing the processing results; and  
       transmitting the e-mail message containing the processing results to the source of the generic message.  
     
     
       10. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the generic message comprises a voice message. 
     
     
       11. A method according to  claim 10 , wherein said extracting step comprises the step of utilizing voice recognition software to recognize information in the voice message from which the source of the message and the instructions describing the control of the remote processing system may be extracted. 
     
     
       12. A method according to  claim 10 , further comprising: 
       generating a voice message containing the processing results; and  
       transmitting the voice message containing the processing results to the source of the generic message.  
     
     
       13. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the generic message comprises a facsimile message. 
     
     
       14. A method according to  claim 13 , wherein said extracting step comprises the step of utilizing optical character recognition software to recognize information in the facsimile message from which the source of the message and the instructions describing the control of the remote processing system may be extracted. 
     
     
       15. A method according to  claim 13 , further comprising: 
       generating a facsimile message containing the processing results; and  
       transmitting the facsimile message containing the processing results to the source of the generic message.  
     
     
       16. A system for providing remote control operation of a processor, the system comprising: 
       a mail proxy having a mail handler, wherein said mail proxy generates a mobile agent from data in a generic message received from a message source from source and control information extracted by the mail handler from the received generic message; and  
       an agent server, operably associated with the mail proxy, which processes the mobile agent so as to provide processing results associated with the mobile agent.  
     
     
       17. A system according to  claim 16 , wherein the mail server further provides the processing results to the mail proxy and wherein said mail proxy further generates a generic message containing the processing results for transmission to the message source. 
     
     
       18. A system according to  claim 17 , wherein the mail proxy further comprises: 
       an agent sender which generates a mobile agent in response to a received generic message from the mail handler;  
       a client agent manager which executes the mobile agent and which provides processing results corresponding to the mobile agent.  
     
     
       19. A system according to  claim 18 , wherein the extracted control information comprises agent template information and agent template change information and wherein the mail interpreter selects a previously stored agent template based on the agent template information and modifies the selected agent template based on the agent template change information to provide an agent generation template; and 
       wherein the agent sender generates the mobile agent based on the agent generation template.  
     
     
       20. A system for remote control of a processing system, comprising: 
       means for receiving a generic message from a message source;  
       means for extracting from the generic message a source and instructions describing the control of the remote processing system;  
       means for using the extracted instructions to modify a previously defined template specifying how messages from the message source are processed; and  
       means for controlling the remote processing system in a manner specified by the previously defined template as modified by the instructions extracted from the generic message so as to provide processing results.  
     
     
       21. A system according to  claim 20 , further comprising: 
       means for generating a generic message containing the processing results; and  
       means for transmitting the generic message containing the processing results to the source of the generic message.  
     
     
       22. A system according to  claim 20 , wherein the generic message comprises an e-mail message. 
     
     
       23. A system according to  claim 22 , wherein said means for extracting comprises: 
       means for analyzing the header information of the e-mail to extract the source of the e-mail; and  
       means for analyzing the body portion of the e-mail to extract keywords and parameters describing the control of the remote processing system.  
     
     
       24. A system according to  claim 21 , wherein the generic message comprises an e-mail message and wherein said means for generating a generic message containing the processing results comprises means for generating an e-mail containing the processing results and wherein said means for transmitting the generic message comprises means for transmitting the e-mail containing the processing results. 
     
     
       25. A system for remote control of a processing system, comprising: 
       means for receiving an e-mail message from a message source;  
       means for analyzing the header information of the e-mail to extract the source of the e-mail;  
       means for analyzing the body portion of the e-mail to extract keywords and parameters describing the control of the remote processing system;  
       means for generating a mobile agent according to the extracted information; and  
       means for controlling the remote processing system by executing the mobile agent to obtain the processing results.  
     
     
       26. A system according to  claim 25 , wherein said extracted information comprises agent template specification and agent template change information and wherein said means for generating a mobile agent comprises: 
       means for selecting an agent generation template based on the agent template specification information extracted from the message;  
       means for modifying the selected agent generation template based on the agent template change information extracted from the message so as to provide a modified agent generation template; and  
       means for generating the mobile agent according to the modified agent generation template.  
     
     
       27. A system according to  claim 25 , further comprising: 
       means for transmitting the mobile agent to an agent server associated with the mobile agent; and  
       means for receiving results of the execution of the mobile agent from the agent server to provide the processing results.  
     
     
       28. A system according to  claim 27 , further comprising: 
       means for generating an e-mail message containing the processing results; and  
       means for transmitting the e-mail message containing the processing results to the source of the generic message.  
     
     
       29. A system according to  claim 20 , wherein the generic message comprises a voice message. 
     
     
       30. A system according to  claim 29 , wherein said means for extracting comprises means for utilizing voice recognition software to recognize information in the voice message from which the source of the message and the instructions describing the control of the remote processing system may be extracted. 
     
     
       31. A system according to  claim 29 , further comprising: 
       means for generating a voice message containing the processing results; and  
       means for transmitting the voice message containing the processing results to the source of the generic message.  
     
     
       32. A system according to  claim 20 , wherein the generic message comprises a facsimile message. 
     
     
       33. A system according to  claim 32 , wherein said means for extracting comprises means for utilizing optical character recognition software to recognize information in the facsimile message from which the source of the message and the instructions describing the control of the remote processing system may be extracted. 
     
     
       34. A system according to  claim 32 , further comprising: 
       means for generating a facsimile message containing the processing results; and  
       means for transmitting the facsimile message containing the processing results to the source of the generic message.  
     
     
       35. A computer program product for remote control of a processing system, comprising: 
       a computer readable storage medium having computer-readable program code means embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code means comprising:  
       computer-readable program code means for receiving a generic message from a message source;  
       computer-readable program code means for extracting from the generic message a source and instructions describing the control of the remote processing system;  
       computer-readable program code means for using the extracted instructions to modify a previously defined template specifying how messages from the message source are processed; and  
       computer-readable program code means for controlling the remote processing system in a manner specified by the previously defined template as modified by the instructions extracted from the generic message so as to provide processing results.  
     
     
       36. A computer program product according to  claim 35 , further comprising: 
       computer-readable program code means for generating a generic message containing the processing results; and  
       computer-readable program code means for transmitting the generic message containing the processing results to the source of the generic message.  
     
     
       37. A computer program product according to  claim 35 , wherein the generic message comprises an e-mail message. 
     
     
       38. A computer program product according to  claim 37 , wherein said computer-readable program code means for extracting comprises: 
       computer-readable program code means for analyzing the header information of the e-mail to extract the source of the e-mail; and  
       computer-readable program code means for analyzing the body portion of the e-mail to extract keywords and parameters describing the control of the remote processing system.  
     
     
       39. A computer program product according to  claim 36 , wherein the generic message comprises an e-mail message and wherein said computer-readable program code means for generating a generic message containing the processing results comprises computer-readable program code means for generating an e-mail containing the processing results and wherein said computer-readable program code means for transmitting the generic message comprises computer-readable program code means for transmitting the e-mail containing the processing results. 
     
     
       40. A computer program product for remote control of a processing system, comprising: 
       a computer readable storage medium having computer-readable program code means embodied in said medium said computer-readable program code means comprising:  
       computer-readable program code means for receiving an e-mail message from a message source;  
       computer-readable program code means for analyzing the header information of the e-mail to extract the source of the e-mail;  
       computer-readable program code means for analyzing the body portion of the e-mail to extract keywords and parameters describing the control of the remote processing system;  
       computer-readable program code means for generating a mobile agent according to the extracted information; and  
       computer-readable program code means for controlling the remote processing system by executing the mobile agent to obtain the processing results.  
     
     
       41. A computer program product according to  claim 40 , wherein said extracted information comprises agent template specification and agent template change information and wherein said computer-readable program code means for generating a mobile agent comprises: 
       computer-readable program code means for selecting an agent generation template based on the agent template specification information extracted from the message;  
       computer-readable program code means for modifying the selected agent generation template based on the agent template change information extracted from the message so as to provide a modified agent generation template; and  
       computer-readable program code means for generating the mobile agent according to the modified agent generation template.  
     
     
       42. A computer program product according to  claim 40 , further comprising: 
       computer-readable program code means for transmitting the mobile agent to an agent server associated with the mobile agent; and  
       computer-readable program code means for receiving results of the execution of the mobile agent from the agent server to provide the processing results.  
     
     
       43. A computer program product according to  claim 42 , further comprising: 
       computer-readable program code means for generating an e-mail message containing the processing results; and  
       computer-readable program code means for transmitting the e-mail message containing the processing results to the source of the generic message.  
     
     
       44. A computer program product according to  claim 35 , wherein the generic message comprises a voice message. 
     
     
       45. A computer program product according to  claim 44 , wherein said computer-readable program code means for extracting comprises computer-readable program code means for utilizing voice recognition software to recognize information in the voice message from which the source of the message and the instructions describing the control of the remote processing system may be extracted. 
     
     
       46. A computer program product according to  claim 44 , further comprising: 
       computer-readable program code means for generating a voice message containing the processing results; and  
       computer-readable program code means for transmitting the voice message containing the processing results to the source of the generic message.  
     
     
       47. A computer program product according to  claim 45 , wherein the generic message comprises a facsimile message. 
     
     
       48. A computer program product according to  claim 47 , wherein said computer-readable program code means for extracting comprises computer-readable program code means for utilizing optical character recognition software to recognize information in the facsimile message from which the source of the message and the instructions describing the control of the remote processing system may be extracted. 
     
     
       49. A computer program product according to  claim 47 , further comprising: 
       computer-readable program code means for generating a facsimile message containing the processing results; and  
       computer-readable program code means for transmitting the facsimile message containing the processing results to the source of the generic message.